julian-wolf

@Double 0 Soul This is Roy we’re talking about—not many loose threads of which to speak

^ Yeah, I was surprised to read that…I know some of the stitching (overlocking on the inseams comes to mind) has been cotton, but most of the thread really, really seems like poly-core—in particular, the stitching at the pocket openings and the rear yoke has that sheen to it, and it doesn’t seem to shrink much at all, and lasts much longer than the cotton threads on any of my repro jeans, all of which has me kinda skeptical

edit: This is all in reference to the earlier Test Lot R01s, which I guess may no longer be among the last 5–6 releases—when I get home, I’ll have to look more closely at the more recent Leroy’s to see if they seem any different

The thighs on mine measure 13”+ and the leg openings measure around 8”, with the knees midway between; that’s plenty of taper

If they were real slim up top they could probably have a similar leg opening without needing to taper much, but as is they’re approaching carrot territory…extremely comfortable & versatile, but honestly not super flattering

I have a slew of what I’d call classic straight (say ‘50s cut, give or take) jeans with similarly-sized top blocks, and they generally have leg openings firmly in the 9” range, which makes a pretty big difference

^ what was the R01 if not relaxed–tapered? It’s one of my favorite cuts, but, if anything, my main complaints about it are that it’s too relaxed up top and too tapered towards the hem 

Comfort-wise, the R01 just can’t be beat 

@Duke Mantee, yep, that’s the one—I probably could have been more clear in my initial description (and, looking back, I’m not sure where I got that product number either…)

Good to know about sizing. Do the shoulders seem about as broad as you’re used to, then? I think of a 17 as corresponding to around a 49 cm shoulder measurement, and the charts I’m seeing for these have them closer to 47, but I know measurements can be pretty misleading

Thanks, Duke. Emailed Seiichiro; hopefully I’ll be able to snag that one (would prefer the version with white lines over a blue background rather than the reverse, but told him I’ll be happy with either if the former is no longer available). Looking forward.

Is it just me, or does it seem like this round of Neal shirts / maybe just this fabric in particular came up smaller than usual? I haven’t tried much FW, but so far a 17 has always seemed like a safe bet, and here most of the measurements seem skewed down from what I’d expect.

Been searching for one of the white-on-blue cotton–linen Neal shirts in a 17 1/2 for some time now without much luck—found that McFly has them stocked, but isn’t shipping overseas these days

 Anyone have any possible leads? @Duke Mantee, I know you often keep your ear to the ground, so to speak…

#2013001, I think

//

…which has somehow transitioned to a firmly country mood for the late morning

Thinking of Jason Molina today, for no reason in particular

A few months late, but really enjoying the new Fiona Apple album—less overproduced than what I remember her putting out a number of years ago

I know that comment about mannequin shots being tantamount to flat lays may have come off as harsh, but it was all in good fun—I didn’t mean to push you over the edge to Instagramness

@Broark yep, looking forward to a pair of service boots in black horse butt, should be a great time all around

Price, at least as of the time of my order, seems to be flat across most styles (maybe more for engineer boots?) but dependent on leather—these were $685 shipped

I don’t think it’s ever been any secret that Lofgren holds weirdly strong views against Chinese sourcing & manufacturing

or

It’s true that his past comments have probably gone beyond what’s justified, but I hardly think it’s fair to conflate a distrust of Chinese & Indonesian manufacturing in general with any sort of hard feelings towards the cultures or the people—there’s an undeniable history of low quality, mass-produced goods coming from these countries, and we can’t all go around proudly touting our MiJ & MiUSA goods without recognizing that that designation comes with the implication that MiC goods are, on average, expected to be worse

I don’t really see where Lofgren’s coming from here, or why he bothers with that whole schtick, but the person responding also kinda just seems like they’re getting offended for the sake of getting offended, which annoys the hell out of me

(I say this all as someone who currently has a pair of boots on order from China for which I’m extremely excited, and which I expect to be right on par with my Lofgrens in terms of both construction & materials)

Agreed—that style of tall, chunky front bumper, as long as it's not taken too far as with the recent McCoys versions, is really appealing, & the classic double stripes at the top of the tape work great

@Duke Mantee Makes sense—for what it's worth, poking around some's turned up a few pairs left for sale at Canvas in larger sizes, by which I'm feeling pretty tempted

Do you find the soles to last well? This is the main issue I've had with some MiJ Chucks-style sneakers in the past…the soles on some last fine, but on others (looking at you, TFH) they wear through in no time near the heel

Really like the look of those—are the products shown on their web shop no longer of the same quality? Poking around, I saw some reference to them closing down operations around 2014, but their shop is still showing stock for most models…

Always on the hunt for that style of sneakers…really happy with my Nigel Cabourn / Lofgren version, but not enough so to consider paying full price

^ Those macarons look top notch

I tried making some of those a few weeks ago with mochiko in stead of almond flower; they tasted fine & they rose about the same, but I couldn’t get rid of the sort of gritty texture, so will probably be sticking with the tried and true for future endeavors

Anyway, no photos of the finished product, but I was real pleased with how the filling turned out—a lilikoi curd that’s become one of my standards when the season’s right

Wishing now that I’d saved some more for a rainy day…

Plenty of new stuff up on the Rivet & Hide sale page, looks like—and not just small sizes as usual

Put an order in for a couple of lightweight merino Merz tees, which should fill a niche I’ve had open for a long time now

So who won those Oki Rainbows?

44 minutes ago, mondo said:

by the end, I'll be so accustomed to the high rise that I'll resemble a half-melted ice cream cone... nothing else will do...

The look to which we all aspire, surely

Yeah, I've always really liked the idea of toe taps on leather soles, particularly for dress shoes, but adding leather to the part of the sole that takes the biggest beating just to add a tap over it seems pretty fishy

I had really bad luck with a Red Wing factory resole on a pair of moc toes a couple of years ago and won’t be using them for any resoling work in the future, but I will say that their Dual Density Traction Tread lasted a good chunk longer than the standard RW wedge soles or the Vibrams that Lofgren uses

@Geeman, fair play—I don't really see either of the sole issues as construction flaws, just the heel counter thing. Soft midsole's maybe a weird design choice, but given that most folks probably aren't doing any actual work in these I can see why Lofgren would've wanted to angle for comfort over robustness. Meanwhile, fast wear's par for the course for single-density wedge soles—I knew what I was getting into when I bought them

Don't get me wrong: I do see them as an imperfect product (especially given their price), and at this point I doubt I'd consider buying another pair—but they're still great boots, and the only real constructional issue that I've seen with them is the heel counter